#youre supposed to make the bad guys mean and evil and not relatable but look at them

[uncreativebean]

Need me a man who wouldn't just carry the memory of me with him but burn the world in furious vengeance for my death

[lillified]

Just curious, why do you ship Megastar?

[long post incoming, apologies, you activated my sleeper phrase]

Short answer: I like these characters and their potential. I like the idea of them, and I made up new versions because I want to see their dynamic and subtext taken seriously, and not flanderized/made into a meanspirited joke by media that is supposed to be "mature"

Long answer:

when i was watching transformers as a kid i was really interested in the dynamic of two characters who are mean and jaded and instinctively push eachother away, but work extremely well together. i didn't really understand coding yet, but in my interest in the decepticons as an entity with an ideological identity that wasn't just "bad guy" (transformers was like. the first time i really started thinking about deeper meanings and propaganda in media, which probably explains why i am as obnoxious as I am) I was always sad with how megatron and starscream never really got the chance to have their dynamic approached in a different way. in a lot of ways those two are the heart and soul of the decepticons, and I've always thought that putting more care and attention into their relationship and not just writing it off as a cruel plot device would be the first step in having a more nuanced view of the Decepticons as a whole

personally I believe that, in a similar way to batman and the joker, those two have always had a dynamic that kind of blurs the lines, and at times is outright suggested. unfortunately though, like batman and the joker, over time an unwillingness to engage with the reality of that uncomfortable, sort of meanspirited coding just led to the near-sighted stereotyping becoming crueler and more abusive. acknowledging that it exists at all means acknowledging there was that bias, so the "joke" was just repeated until it became the only thing their interactions were really known for. it's an act of flanderization, and that makes me sad

i guess my case in point is--they have a lot of potential that just isn't realized. even in places where their relationship is given depth there's still almost always this really tonally dissonant violence to their interactions that's never unpacked, not really, because how are you going to sell toys of that? moreover, how are you going to make megatron "redeemable" after that? what could be considered strange, poorly executed slapstick in its origin became aesthetically worse and worse, but was never given serious thought--and I think that makes the story, overall, worse! "maturing" the brand didn't make it smarter, it just made an elephant in the room, and now Transformers is so locked in to its decided status quo that we haven't had a different perspective on any of these characters since Animated.

I apologize for the rant, but it's something I think about alot and your question is somewhat related to that. I'm frustrated by how dismissively these characters are written in versions of Transformers that are supposed to "smart" and "mature", I'm frustrated by how that negatively impacts the story, and I'm frustrated by how the people who like these characters can be dismissive of it. I think there's a lot of story potential and thematic insight into the decepticons that can be gained by looking at these two as characters with a history, and not just a bad joke! I think that you can have all the best parts--the sabotage, betrayal, bitterness, and the irony of someone you refuse to trust who still manages to know you better than anyone else, and have that shown through actions and character development, and actually written instead of having to be overscored by unintelligible violence for the sake of being "dark" and reaffirming, in the cheapest way possible, that you're looking at characters who are evil! I want to see that in a story!

my work is honestly not really about what I think transformers IS, or HAS to be, but what I think it has the potential to be, and what my interpretation of the themes means to me. I want to see all of the Decepticons viewed with a different lens, and these two are probably the most important Decepticons, both on a story/thematic level and a cultural one. transformers was the first piece of media I was really consciously critically thinking about, entirely by chance, and in the interest of art and human expression I want to make something different that is interested in being more thoughtful

anyway, sorry again for rambling. I might delete this later to keep my page clean, but I appreciate the question! I'd give more specific examples of why I like the stuff I made up but those would be spoilers.

[leenfiend]

Kissing you on the mouth for your Lance son of Hermes take. I didn't even really have an opinion before but after reading your post I'm immediately sold and so invested in the au

Do you have ideas on what the other characters godly parents would be? Hunk with Hephaestus makes sense to me, and I'm a fan of Keith son of Ares (learning to accept his godly dad could match with his arc about accepting he's part galra, a supposedly evil/violent side of him, + the anger and fighting skills), but not sure about the others...

hello!!! I'm glad you see the vision hehe. I actually sent many a paragraph to heynhay about this only yesterday. I was firmly on the son of Ares Keith headcanon but then... someone reblogged my post saying Keith son of Zeus (I think it was @pidges-lost-robot and i was like WAAAAIT.

Okay so here's my many many paragraphs explaining headcanons for each. Shiro son of Zeus: Okay so in my head Shiro & Keith are both sons of Zeus but for very different reasons. They're like Thalia vs Jason types. Shiro is a great leader, he's ambitious, he's brave, he's a legend. His dad is so proud. He's been on like 20 quests and absolutely demolished all of them. All the kids in camp know he's So Cool and Talented. He can be hot headed sometimes but ultimately he's really adept at setting aside his feelings for the Greater Good etc. Ideal hero type and ideal son to the big guy upstairs. Keith son of Zeus: Keith is all the bad traits of Zeus (sorry to him). He's got a short temper, he's impulsive, he's closed off. He's a prodigy without meaning to be. Everyone pays attention to him but (despite what Lance thinks) it's because they think he's a freak, he's not a big three kid the way you're Supposed To Be. And he doesn't want to be a leader. This really rubs Zeus the wrong way. Keith would rather disappear into the ranks of his fellow campers than be the star of the show and that goes against everything children of Zeus are supposed to be. His dad definitely refuses to claim him for a long time which makes Keith just some weird really powerful kid who doesn't know who his godly parent is. Luckily Shiro takes him under his wing : )) (too bad Shiro doesn't come back from his latest quest tho, no one knows where he went off to and Chiron doesn't want to send out a quest because if something kept Shiro The Legend from coming back to camp it must be really bad). Hunk son of Aphrodite: ANOTHER ONE I'M FIRM ABOUT. I think Hunk's defining characteristic is his love for his friends. Hunk is always looking for peaceful ways to solve problems, he's always forming relationships with people before doing anything else, he really values giving love to those around him. It also doesn't hurt that he's kind of squeamish and particular about a lot of things, as a lot of Aphrodite's children are. But I really think his greatest strengths are the ways he's able to relate to others. I know a lot of people say Lance is the glue that holds everyone together, but I think it's Hunk. I know the fanon is that Aphrodite's kids are all just big flirts but I think both Selena and Piper are great examples that that's not true, and Hunk would absolutely be their brother. Pidge daughter of Hephaestus: I've seen some people saying Athena for Pidge but that's another one where I just can't get behind it. Pidge is so smart in so many ways but so stupid in others. She's too impulsive and single minded to be a daughter of Athena, imo. Her main love is figuring out how things work, what makes them tick, and using that knowledge to help those she loves. Children of Hephaestus are know to hold grudges, fight for their families, and let's not forget Hephaestus spending literally all of his free time trying to play pranks on the other Gods with his little contraptions like that is all Pidge would do all day long. Plus she befriends a robot and that is who she talks to for the first like 3 episodes of Voltron that is so unbelievably child of Hephaestus energy. Anyway thank u for asking this question I've been thinking on it for days. I am also open to the idea of Shiro being a son of Athena, I think that would suit him well. And also in my head I like to think Keith would potentially just remain unclaimed until he stomped his way to Mount Olympus and forced whoever was his parent to fess up.

[bau-drabbles]

a/n: inspired from all the prev posts!

your insta but you're dating aaron hotchner part 2 :")

part 1, 3, 4

liked by kate.callahan, the.davidrossi and 497 others

y/n_xo: look at my faves 🫶🥹.... and then there's aaron

view all 211 comments

its.emilyp: jumpscare warning next time 😨

d.morgan: nah he looks like he's concocting some evil plan

penny.garcia: he looks like he's going to steal christmas

reid.gram: he looks like he kidnapped my mom and held her hostage somewhere 😦

itsjj: just smile and wave, kids. smile and wave 🥲

d.morgan: crop him out next time fr 🙏

a.hotch: i'll crop you out of the team

d.morgan: say less 😍😮‍💨 least ion have an ugly smile

a.hotch: what smile? you just bare your teeth

y/n_xo: oh 😭

liked by penny.garcia, reid.gram and 489 others

y/n_xo: meme jack really quickly 🫣

view all 278 comments

reid.gram: jack is me when hotch is asking me to get to the point even though my point was the whole theory 🙂

penny.garcia: omg me when he tells me to search something more quickly even though i'm already working high speed 🙂

itsjj: me when he plants more files on my desk even though i'm drowning in the last ones 🙂

its.emilyp: he's me that one time hotch did "team building" and then proceeded to complain the whole time 🙂

d.morgan: me when i made one mistake and he held it against me for months but goes on about forgiving and how its important to move on 🙂

the.davidrossi: me looking at him ogling @/y/n_xo for months and then passionately disagreeing he was in love

y/n_xo: so i'm sensing some of you need therapy 🧍‍♀️

a.hotch: all of you are dead to me

liked by its.emilyp, itsjj and 524 others

y/n_xo: i really got replaced 💔

view all 200 comments

the.davidrossi: WHERE are you finding these???

itsjj: so... who's the wife in the relationship? 🤔

its.emilyp: it's rossi for sure

reid.gram: i would say hotch. the angle of the selfie says it all

d.morgan: nah it gotta be rossi, he types and cooks like a mom. sometimes he even be smelling like one

the.davidrossi: all of you are out of my will

d.morgan: i complimented your cooking and this is the attitude i get? choke

its.emilyp: you're probably immortal at this point, poisoning and sucking the life out of other people so you can drive us to insanity which would inevitably lead us to our doom. but i see right through you 😒

itsjj: sweetheart we need to stop watching horror movies at night time, okay?

a.hotch: it's not what it looks like!

y/n_xo: i don't know if i should cry or be disgusted >:(

a.hotch: baby, i haven't cheated. i promise you ❤

y/n_xo: omg could you imagine if you did with rossi? 💀

the.davidrossi: what is that supposed to mean? 🤨

reid.gram: she means you're old and embarrassing. and maybe even disgusting 🤷‍♂️

y/n_xo: i will physically mutilate you and feed you to wild dogs

itsjj: thanks for that, my kids are crying

liked by the.davidrossi, a.hotch and 478 others

y/n_xo: my bae 😍

view all 234 comments

reid.gram: we literally have a pending case right now y/n

y/n_xo: okay? he's still a bae 😍

reid.gram: awww really? hope you guys find out you're related 😍🤞

penny.garcia: well... at least we know those frown lines are removable 😌

reid.gram: in a time like this, his frown lines are what matters to you? imagine if he was dead

itsjj: omg imagine he was and you guys were discussing his frown lines. i'd resurrect and haunt everyone on this thread

reid.gram: don't worry, your cheeto breath would give you away instantly 🤢

penny.garcia: all i'm saying is i'd want to make sure our boss got a nice makeover one last time in the coffin. and you can't do that if you have bad indentations on your forehead 💗💗

itsjj: this alone should give you employee of the year 😍

a.hotch: i think we need to have a serious talk

d.morgan: seeing hotch not angry makes me feel deeply uncomfortable

its.emilyp: no cause same. someone poke him and see if he's alive

y/n_xo: you'd think i'd kill him? 😡

its.emilyp: if you did, there'd be no one between us would there? 😏

y/n_xo: 😳

a.hotch: i'm wide awake, thank you 😠

its.emilyp: its like he's still with us 😢 i can almost feel his presence 💔

[tearsoftime0086]

Zero-Sum Escape: A Close Reading of Code Veronica’s Steve Burnside

Introduction + Disclaimers

If you’re a friend/mutual/unfortunate witness to my discovery of Steve Burnside, you might’ve seen this coming. I’ve become an avid enjoyer of the character, which has led to some interesting discussions about him with friends! I’ve decided to write a small (edit: it was supposed to be small) piece on what makes him so interesting, using quotes and cutscenes from the original Code Veronica game. A lot of online discourse around Steve has historically been negative, so I hope this can be a positive primer for folks who want to learn more about him, or even an interesting curio for folks wondering why someone would do such an in-depth read for a one-off character.

This reading will focus strictly on Code Veronica (and not any of the Darkside Chronicles material) – with the full understanding that many aspects of the game are a product of their time, good and bad. I’ll try to cite my evidence as much as possible, but this will obviously be coming from a subjective and modern perspective as a fan of his character! I’m also a fairly new Resident Evil fan, so if anything’s incorrect, please forgive me and let me know! I’d be happy to make edits.

Anyway, this is all in good fun – and to anyone who even reads a single sentence of this, I appreciate your time!

Reference

As a way to “cite” dialogue and cutscenes, I’ll be including rough timestamps to this great video of Code Veronica cutscenes: https://youtu.be/ym46RPHqaSY?si=a6ItTpdOn3rCZq-U. Feel free to follow along, but the text should make sense without the video too.

So, who is this guy, anyway?

Let’s start with the basics. In the game Resident Evil – Code: Veronica (taking place shortly after RE:2), you start as Claire Redfield, recent prisoner of Rockfort Island. Unfortunately, Claire finds herself in the midst of another biohazard outbreak. And what’s worse is that during her escape, a stranger in a watchtower starts shooting at her indiscriminately! (0:05)

When the dust settles, Claire comes face to face with an abrasive teenager named Steve Burnside, a fellow prisoner on the island.

“Uh, sorry about that little misunderstanding…” (0:43)

This, alongside his attempts to be “smooth” – (I mean, who says “Relax beautiful…” unironically?) doesn’t do him any favors for most players. Not to mention his active derision of Claire’s skills – he leaves her with a few choice “tsks” and a “I don’t want you following me, lady. You’ll only slow me down.” (1:30).

This opening scene sets up a few key characteristics for Steve, which I’ll be referencing throughout this piece.

Steve is someone who makes numerous mistakes, ranging from purely accidental to sheer negligence.

Steve puts a heavy emphasis on reliability/dependability. He leaves Claire because he thinks she will “slow [him] down”. We’ll see more examples of his complex with “relying on others” later on.

Where do these traits leave us? A character that ends up being deeply paradoxical, and in my opinion, super fascinating because of it.

“You’ll just end up disappointed if you rely on others”

Claire finds Steve somewhat quickly afterwards, perusing information about her brother, Chris. I think it’s important to recognize Steve’s intent here. If he was purely focused on escaping (and leaving Claire behind), he wouldn’t have bothered looking for any records relating to her. Some folks may argue that he has a crush on Claire already, and is just following teenage impulses. But trust me, there’s more concrete evidence of teenage impulses later. For now, let’s give him the benefit of the doubt and assume he was trying to help her out – it ties well with point 2.

Steve’s snooping reveals that Chris is being monitored by Umbrella. Claire immediately takes action, contacting Leon about it. At this point, Steve sarcastically tells her,

“That file shows latitude and longitude of this place. Tch, why don’t you send your brother the coordinates and ask him to come help?” (2:20)

When Claire takes him completely seriously, he becomes prickly.

S: “Hey? I was just kidding? There’s no way he could get here, even if he is your brother.” C: “Yes he can; I’m sure of it.” S: “No way. He won’t come. You’ll just end up disappointed if you rely on others. Believe me, I know!”

Steve’s sudden anger and exit demonstrate how much this topic of “reliability” affects him. He’s vocal about his need for self-reliance – and yet, if we take his investigation in a positive light, it’s not like he’s completely selfish in his attempt to escape Rockfort.

Steve is someone who desperately wants to believe in human reliability, and yet has been spurned due to the circumstances of his imprisonment. We’ll see that he tries to emulate it himself, but unfortunately (and perhaps realistically) falls short.

Yet, what really nurtures this desire is Claire – someone who he can finally depend on. The pair’s next encounter comes when Steve is in trouble (if you’ve seen the “Steve is suffering” memes, it’s from this scene). The player hears him yell a pitiful “Help me!” as he bangs against a locked door – so much for relying on yourself.

If Claire solves the puzzle fast enough, Steve escapes and tells her, “That was too close. But I found something. Thanks to… you.” (3:44).

Thus begins the two’s shaky partnership – and believe me, it’s shaky. Steve runs off yet again, only agreeing to give Claire the essential golden lugers if she trades him something “fully automatic”. But Steve’s obviously on better terms with her now, as seen when he emphatically tells her, “See? This is why you need me. I got your back,” later (5:10). Quite cooperative for someone who was crowing about not relying on others.

In the midst of these scenes is a growing desire to look good to Claire – to be someone she can count on.

The knight fantasy – and bitter reality

Steve ends up describing his own motivation pretty well. Claire finds herself stuck with a nasty Bandersnatch, before Steve dramatically comes to her rescue (more on this in the next section). Afterwards, he eagerly proclaims the following:

S: “Oh yeah, that felt good! Don’t worry Claire, your knight in shining armor is here!” C: “You wish – but thanks for the help.” S: “See? This is why you need me. I got your back.” (4:54)

Steve wants Claire to see him as someone she can rely on – as a self-proclaimed knight to save her from the influx of zombies. It’s why he tells her to wait as he clears out the following area with his “new toy” (6:35). He wants to be the hero who saves the day – Claire might not be able to count on others, but she can sure count on him. He even states it outright afterwards:

“See? You can depend on me.” (6:58)

But maybe this is too blatant of a turn even for him, because he immediately backs off and instead mentions his guns instead:

“You see? This thing is a lot more reliable than any person.” (6:59)

Claire takes immediate suspicion of this, however, and starts to ask questions.

C: “Than people?” S: “…” C: “Steve, what were you doing here? Who brought you here, and where’s your family?” S: “Shut up – I don’t want to talk about it!” *shoots his gun at the wall* C: “Steve…” S: “Never mind. Let’s get going.” (7:04)

Note that he punctures this conversation with an angsty emptying of his gun magazine at the wall. This is no knight – this is volatile, teenage behavior. Claire can tell there’s something on his mind, but Steve doesn’t seem to be in the condition to explain anything.

Steve does the same thing four times – aka, analyzing entrances

As a brief interruption (but it ties into the rest, I promise), let’s take a chance to look at the different ways Steve barges into a cutscene. Humor aside, Steve’s physical actions vary across the four different times he comes to Claire’s “rescue”.

Bandersnatch (4:30)

The first rescue is all cliches and edge. Claire’s “knight in shining armor” breaks through a window dramatically. He shoots at the Bandersnatch without even directly aiming at him, walking forward as he shoots with his dual wielded lugers. It’s almost comical as he walks straight up to the Bandersnatch, delivering a kick and single killing shot for good measure.

It’s all impractical – Steve’s incessant wish to dual wield would hardly be effective in real life, let alone everything else here.  But this scene, cliche as it may be, reflects what Steve wants to be in front of Claire. He’s the action hero, the knight – the one who can be counted on to swoop in and save the day.

The Infamous Father Scene (8:13)

These heroics fail him once the two encounter his father. No longer is this a fantasy but bitter reality – and Steve can’t find it in him to shoot his infected dad. It’s only when Claire is in peril that he takes action – and this time, it’s impulsive and rough. He unloads all his ammo in a single, shaking shot, continuing to press the trigger even when it’s all gone.

It’s now that Steve tells Claire the full story – his father was caught trying to sell confidential Umbrella information, leaving his mother dead and the two of them locked up here. He morosely tells Claire, “He was a fool to do something so reckless! So stupid…” (10:15). We can see how much his father’s actions have impacted him – his desire for consistency comes from having his familial life ripped apart by the actions of someone he trusted dearly. And now, at the end of it, he is truly alone – the last one left in his family.

Alfred (11:07)

The next time we find Steve, we see a little bit of the Bandersnatch energy back in him – there’s the same aim, the same kick (to open the door) – but it’s less dramatic this time. There’s no slow-motion focus on shattered glass, no cocky final shot. In fact, this encounter leaves Steve visibly hurt – a crack in his armor. Steve’s still trying to be Claire’s dependable rescuer, and yet this encounter shows that he’s not the infallible knight he wishes to be. Far from it, considering the mistakes he'll make later on.

Alfred in Antarctica (21:30)

This cutscene skips forward a little, but it’s a nice final reminder that Steve does genuinely try his best to protect Claire, and succeeds! We see him take two stylish leaps and then shoot a quick few bullets to rescue her from Alfred. He’s still trying to emulate that knight image, but it’s more efficient than his Bandersnatch moment.

The Flight (and THAT SCENE)

After numerous troubles, Claire and Steve are finally able to escape the island. Needless to say, they’re elated and exhausted. Now that the coast is clear, Steve decides to get honest with Claire and apologize:

S: “Claire, I’m sorry. I know I caused a lot of trouble for you.” C: “No; it’s okay. It was hard for both of us.” S: “Well, I really hope you find your brother. I… I know what it’s like to be alone.” C: “Oh Steve…” S: *coughs awkwardly* “So, where should we go now? I can take you anywhere you want to go, Claire.” C: *laughs* “I hear Hawaii’s nice this time of year.” S: “You got it!” (14:20)

(On a personal note, isn’t this scene so cute? If only this was how it all ended…)

It’s here that Steve bares his heart to Claire. It’s clear that his mishaps and snarky remarks have been weighing on him too – he genuinely wants the best for her. When Claire is all too accepting and sympathetic, however, Steve begins to reveal his feelings (in… controversial ways).

After they find out that the plane is out of their control, the two of them take an uneasy rest. In the cutscene at 16:12, we find Claire leaning on Steve – a physical sign of how she relies on him. As if to follow his teenage impulses, Steve leans in for a kiss – only to startle as Claire begins to wake. His notion is thwarted immediately. Steve stands up,leans on the glass, slams the window and sighs.It shows signs of a “what was I thinking?” moment of clarity.

After all, kissing princesses in their sleep is something knights do in fairy tales. And Steve? Well, he’s no knight. He’s someone who’s almost hindered Claire’s escape as much as he’s helped, and he knows that. This thought is only exacerbated with his actions upon their arrival in Antarctica.

Antarctica, where more mistakes ensue

The plane decides to violently crashes into the side of the Umbrella Antarctica base. Steve kicks the door down and jumps first, reaching his arms out to catch Claire. She lands after, only to stumble and leave them both on the ground. Steve pulls her into a hug, which Claire doesn’t quite reciprocate. As she stands up, Steve lays back flat on the floor, sighing. It’s clear he’s jumped the gun, and it leaves him embarrassed. He doesn’t take Claire’s hand back up and tells her that they should split up to try and find a way out (18:55).

Steve’s love causes another mistake shortly after. The two of them try to break through the base wall with a digging vehicle, only for Steve to get distracted by Claire midway through. This causes a toxic gas pipe to burst – interestingly Steve tries to correct it through the controls – perhaps a reflection of his desires and fantasies for an “undo”. But in reality, he can’t undo his mistakes, and Claire is forced to grab him and leave the area.

This last mistake hits Steve particularly hard:

S: “It’s all my fault…” C: “Don’t say that. Listen to me – we’ll escape from here, together.” C: “Come on, we’ve got to shut off the gas. If we split up, we’ll have a better chance of stopping it.” S: *sighs* “…Okay.” C: “Steve. Don’t forget. We’ll get out of here. Together.” (20:45)

It’s not as if Steve is blind to his own faults – he knows that he’s been the one hindering their escape and takes it particularly hard. Claire has to reassure him multiple times that they’re working as a team to get out of here.

As a further blow to his ego, Steve is completely useless when the two exit the base and encounter Nosferatu, previous Alexander Ashford. Claire notices Nosferatu first, but Steve forces himself ahead of her soon after. He’s still clinging to the need to protect her.

However, Nosferatu easily knocks him off the platform, leaving him clinging to the side. Steve’s at his lowest here, and urges Claire to just leave him behind. If he can’t protect her, then what use is he?”

C: “Hold on, I’ll waste that monster and come back.” S: “Claire, forget about me. Run!” (23:50)

Claire’s resourcefulness and skill allow her to defeat Nosferatu and come back to Steve, still weakly hanging on. She pulls him back up, and Steve is left apologizing again for his rash behavior:

S: “I’m sorry. I failed you.” C: “Don’t worry about it. Let’s go.” *she leaves* S: “I swear I’ll protect you next time, Claire.” (25:15)

At this point, Steve’s all too aware of how his mistakes have left both of them in peril. It’s something that he deeply dislikes – as someone who wants to be dependable, he’s being a poor show of it. Claire’s been the one helping him out through most of this, both emotionally and physically. And so he makes himself a promise that next time, he’ll repay the favor.

It’s with this personal promise that the two climb aboard a snowmobile, hoping that they can make it to the Australia base. Unfortunately, this escape is a dead-end for them as well.

Sleep, weary knight

After Alexia awakens and destroys the snowmobile, Claire is rescued by Chris, who managed to find a way to Antarctica. She’s insistent that they must rescue Steve. She finds him cuffed to a chair in a long hallway, with an axe against his throat.

To Claire’s dismay, it seems she’s too late. Alexia has injected Steve with the t-Veronica virus. Steve’s last words before his transformation are a desperate plea for help. At this point, he’s actively asking for help from the one he loves, but fate has it that Claire is powerless. He begs Claire to save him, but she can only watch in despair as he morphs and chases after her.

In what seems to be a miracle of love, Steve manages to snap out of it just before he lands the killing blow. He instead slashes through Alexia’s entrapping vines, sparking her ire and a fatal blow to his chest. He dies in Claire’s arms, once again in human form, lamenting how he couldn’t protect her – how he couldn’t be her knight:

C: “Oh Steve…” S: *brings Claire’s hand to his cheek* “You’re… warm…” C: “Steve, you’ve got to hang in there, okay? My brother’s come to save us. We’re getting out of here!” S: “Your brother kept his promise. I’m sorry I cannot…” C: “What? What are you saying?” S: “I’m glad that I met you… I…. I love you… Claire…” C: “Steve? Steve?! Steve!” (34:15)

To players who dislike Steve, this may be a cheesy ending to a tedious character. And yet – we see Steve’s character arc complete fully in this final scene. No longer is he a volatile teenager, or a “cool” hero, or a self-perceived deadweight. He’s just Steve – utterly human Steve, who couldn’t keep his promise, and yet saved Claire in his own way. And it’s in these final, human, moments that he can confess his true feelings – only for everything – his façades, his love, everything – to all vanish.

The arm theory

As a somewhat lighter ending to this post, I’d like to discuss a little theory of mine.

People who have been following along with all the cutscenes might have noticed Steve’s right arm getting injured during the fight with Alfred. There’s no visual effect on his model, and Steve even claims, “I’m fine; it’s just a scratch” (11:30). And yet I’m convinced that it was quite a serious wound.

Note that he continues clinging to the platform in the Nosferatu battle with his left hand (24:40), not his right. Yet he keeps clutching his right arm in the cutscene after (25:44). And more importantly, Claire is the one driving the snowmobile during their escape attempt, after Steve had taken the wheel so many times prior (25:59). My theory is that the deterioration of his right arm is also why the arm is significantly skinnier upon his final transformation. If you look super closely at the bottom of the screen, you can actually see his right hand convulse as he mutates! Does this imply anything? Not really. But it would be cool to see this brought back somehow in a hypothetical remake, especially as Darkside Chronicles skipped these parts entirely. Kind of reminds me of another Resident Evil character who had arm injuries…

Anyway, if anyone made it this far, thank you! I hope this was a little insight into why I appreciate Steve so much as a character – and maybe in my wildest dreams, made you potentially enjoy him too.

[shegeekery]

Splintered — Chapter 3

Chapters: 3/5 Fandom: Doctor Who, Loki TV series (crossover) Rating: Not Rated Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: N/A, but I plan to keep it as friendly to both Lokius and Sylkie as I can. Characters: The Doctor, Ruby Sunday, Mobius, Ouroboros, B-15, Casey (Sylvie coming in later) Summary: The Doctor and Ruby find themselves in a strange universe where the timelines are controlled by the God of Mischief. Is it any surprise that the TVA needs help from a Time Lord?

Chapter Index: Chapter 1: I Have a Bad Feeling About This — Length: 2906 words Chapter 2: Ghost Squirrel — Length: 2738 words Chapter 3: Splintered (this post) — Length: 2852 words Chapter 4: Getting the Band Back Together — Length: 2496 words Chapter 5: Intervention — Length: 2496 words

B-15 and Ruby surveyed the destruction around them. Papers were strewn all over the floor, with chairs overturned, folders shredded, coffee cups shattered, and someone’s lunch splattered all over a computer console. A handful of office workers tried to set things to rights, mournfully sorting through papers and wiping down the desks.

“So it just came in here, caused this mess, and then left?” B-15 asked a young woman in a brown vest and thick glasses.

“Um, yeah, except it just sort of appeared in the middle of the room,” the worker replied. “And then it disappeared again. I saw a guy in the elevator do something like that a while back, but this wasn’t quite as…gross.”

“Was anybody hurt?” Ruby asked her.

“No, but I lost an entire day’s worth of work.”

B-15 sighed. “Alright. Thanks Brenda. We’re looking into it.” Brenda went back to cleaning up.

“So it’s still not attacking people. That’s something, at least,” Ruby said. “What she said about the man in the elevator…could that be related?”

“I think she was talking about Loki, when he was timeslipping,” B-15 answered. “That was pretty disturbing, but nothing like what people are describing here.” Her TemPad beeped and she glanced at the screen. “The techs have some residual energy readings consistent with magic use, but the dampeners are making it difficult to get anything more specific.”

“And turning them off would be a bad idea, yeah?” Ruby asked.

B-15 nodded. “If this is some sort of attack, we don’t want to make it easier for whoever’s doing this.”

Ruby paused, then said, “Okay, I’m just putting this out there… Could Loki be doing this? I mean, this qualifies as mischief, right?”

“Well, I suppose he could — he’s outside of the TVA and he has that kind of power — but I’m not convinced he would.” B-15 gestured at the mess around them. “This is just mindless chaos. He usually did things for a reason, and I can’t think of any reason he’d want to attack the TVA.” Her expression darkened. “Besides, if he’s had a change of heart, I hate to say it, but he probably wouldn’t go out of his way to avoid hurting people.”

Ruby’s eyes widened. “He was that bad?” B-15 nodded. “Okay, next question… Does this have something to do with what’s happening to the branches?”

“A lot of strange things have been happening lately. First, branches start getting cut off at the root. Second, a ghost squirrel is wreaking havoc all over the place. And third,” she looked pointedly at Ruby, “two strangers show up in a blue box, claiming to be from another universe. I don’t like coincidences.”

“I swear to you, the Doctor and I don’t have anything to do with this. We’re just trying to help.”

“I’m inclined to believe you, but I wouldn’t be doing my job if I didn’t keep my mind open to all possibilities.”

Ruby nodded. “Of course. I understand. So, what now?”

“Maybe your friend can get us some more useful information about what’s happening at the roots. At least then we might have some idea if it’s connected to the squirrel.” B-15 chuckled and shook her head. “The things I hear myself saying these days. Working here used to be so much simpler. I mean…evil, but simpler.” ----------------------------------------------------------------

“Alright, that’s the last of them,” the Doctor said as he climbed out from under the Tardis console. “Let’s fire her up and go visit your friend in the tree.”

“Can we do that?” Mobius asked excitedly. “Actually go talk to him?”

“Oh, sorry, I meant that figuratively. I don’t know if it’s even possible to get to him. My guess is he’s in the densest part of the trunk — we probably can’t fly through there without damaging the timelines, and it would be too risky to try to materialize inside of it. That much chronon radiation would confuse the Tardis sensors.”

“Oh, right, of course.” Mobius tried to hide his disappointment, but the Doctor took note and silently resolved to keep an eye out for any opportunity to engineer a reunion.

The Doctor pulled a lever on the console. The Tardis groaned as it dematerialized, and Mobius looked around nervously. “Is it supposed to sound like that?”

“My favorite sound in the universe,” the Doctor replied, grinning. “Any universe.”

After a few moments, the groaning stopped, only to start right back up. “Short hop,” the Doctor said as the groaning died down again. He flicked a switch on the console and Yggdrasil appeared on the wall screen.

Mobius stared at the image on the monitor, his expression unreadable. The Doctor left him to his thoughts as he brought them closer, heading toward the roots of Yggdrasil. The bright ‘foliage’ at the top disappeared from view as the darker, murky underside filled the screen. Formless dark clouds drifted in the space between the thick roots, which were further apart than the branches above. The Doctor was able to pilot them through the roots to position the Tardis directly below the center of the tree. The view on the screen panned slowly around.

“So what are we looking for?” Mobius asked.

“Not a clue, mate. This is brand new territory for me.  Basically, we’re looking for anything that could endanger the branches.”

“Right. Got it.”

They continued watching. Everything seemed still and peaceful.

“Hard to believe we’re looking at the beginning of everything,” Mobius said. “Everything that ever existed or will exist, in any timeline. It all starts here. At least, that’s what they told us at the briefing after— what was that?”

“What was what?”

“I thought I saw something move. Can you move the camera back a bit?”

The Doctor turned a knob and the view panned in the opposite direction.

“There! Did you see it? Like a flash of green. Behind that cloud.”

“Yeah. I saw it. Let’s take a closer look.” The Doctor used the sonic to zoom in on the image. An elongated strand of green emerged from the darkness of the cloud, twisting and moving between the roots of Yggdrasil, wrapping itself around them. The Doctor moved to the console viewscreen and typed a series of commands. “Whatever it is, it’s pure energy, but the sensors can’t determine what kind.”

“Pretty sure I can tell you that. It looks exactly like Loki’s magic.”

“I’m going to get closer, see if we can get more detail.” The Doctor piloted the Tardis toward the anomaly until it filled the screen. At one end of the glowing strand, they could make out a distinctly snake-like head.

“You think that’s what’s damaging the roots?” Mobius asked.

“It doesn’t seem to be doing anything at the moment,” the Doctor answered. “But this is ringing a bell. I need to check the Tardis database, but…”

He typed in another command and scanned the results. “Right, of course!” he yelled excitedly, startling his companion. “It’s Nidhogg, the serpent that gnaws at the base of the World Tree!” He knocked his own head a couple of times with the flat of his hand. “I should have thought of that. Granted, it’s been ages since I visited the Norse. I’m getting old.”

Mobius laughed. “Old? Pfft. What are you, twenty-five, thirty? Talk to me when you hit fifty, pal.”

“I’m older than I look. As are you, I suspect.”

“Got me there.”

“Wait,” the Doctor said, stepping back and staring into space, hands raised in front of him. “No!” He turned around. “Yes, of course, that’s it!” He turned back, punched the air, and pointed at Mobius. “Ratatoskr!”

“Excuse me?” Mobius backed away a little, clearly worried that his life was now in the hands of a madman.

“The squirrel. Don’t you see? The squirrel is Ratatoskr. It runs around the tree, talking to an eagle at the top, then back down to the roots where it talks to Nidhogg. It delivers messages between the two, but it’s mischievous so it lies about what the other said, just to aggravate them.”

“Okay, so does the eagle have a weird name too?”

“Probably, but nobody knows what it is.”

“Right. So what now?”

“Now, we check out the top of the tree. Bet you anything we find our nameless eagle up there.”

Mobius shrugged. “Sure, why not?” He seemed anything but convinced. He watched the wall screen as they moved out from under the tree, followed the trunk up, then navigated around the edges of the branches.

“It really is beautiful, isn’t it?” Mobius said quietly.

“Breathtaking.” When they reached the top, the Doctor added, “I’m scanning for the same energy signature we got from the serpent, but the whole tree is giving off some amount of it — which makes sense if Loki is the source. Just need to look for a spot where it’s more concentrated. There!” He changed the view on the wall screen and zoomed in on an area at the very top of the tree.

Eventually, they could make out a greenish blob that slowly resolved into the shape of an eagle, perched on the top-most branch and staring out into the empty nothingness.

“So what does the eagle do?” Mobius asked.

“Nothing much, at least according to the mythology. It just keeps watch over the tree.”

Some movement caught their attention and they watched as another greenish blob moved close to the eagle. When it stopped, they could make out a distinct squirrel-shape. “Jackpot!” the Doctor yelled, startling Mobius once again.

After a few moments, the squirrel began to scurry back down into the tree. The Doctor frantically typed in some more commands.

“What are you doing?”

“Locking onto the squirrel’s signature. We need to follow it and see what it does. We can’t get into the branches there, but we should be able to catch up with it when it reaches the trunk.”

They eventually spotted the squirrel on the trunk of the tree and followed it all the way down into the roots, where it stopped next to the serpent. Again, the squirrel paused for a few moments, then scurried off again and vanished. Probably making another visit to the TVA, the Doctor thought. Nidhogg, meanwhile, began to thrash wildly and wrapped itself tightly around one of the roots. The magical serpent began to gnaw its way through the root.

“It’s killing it!” Mobius exclaimed. “Can’t you stop it?”

The Doctor shook his head sadly. “Nothing I can do, Mobius. The Tardis isn’t equipped for that sort of thing, and I’d probably just cause more damage if I tried.”

They watched helplessly as the serpent gnawed through the root entirely, causing both ends to darken and wither.

Mobius sighed. “Well, now we know what’s happening to the roots.”

“Yeah.”

“And there’s nothing we can do?”

The Doctor thought for a moment, then said, “Tell me more about your friend. You know him better than anyone, right? What motivates him? What makes him tick?”

“Whew, it’s complicated. He’s complicated. That could take all day.”

“If you had to sum him up briefly?”

“Well, I—“

The phone on the console rang and the Doctor punched a button next to it. “Ruby! How are things at the TVA?”

Ruby’s voice came out of the console speaker. “Not much to report. A lot of messes, but nobody’s been hurt. They still think it’s magic—”

“Yeah, we just confirmed that.”

“You saw it at the tree too?”

“Yep, along with a couple of its mates.”

“Did you find out what’s happening to the roots?”

“Yes,” the Doctor answered, nodding to Mobius. “We’re heading back your way shortly. Much to discuss. Take care, babes. See ya soon.”

“Bye for now!” Ruby answered, and the call disconnected.

The Doctor turned to Mobius. “So you were saying? About Loki?”

Mobius shook his head. “Honestly, I don’t even know where to start.”

“Let me ask you this, then. Do you know if he was prone to self-deception?”

Mobius burst out laughing. “If I were a psychologist, I could write a book on that topic alone and make a fortune. I mean, Loki lied to everyone, all the time, but especially to himself.”

“Go on.”

“He actually had the nerve to accuse me of doing that. I mean, okay, he was right, but still… “ Mobius checked himself and continued. “Anyway, yeah. He had a really hard time being honest with himself, especially about what he really wanted. He was getting better, though.”

The Doctor smiled. “It probably didn’t hurt that he had a good friend helping him, someone who really knew him and cared about him.”

“Well, it wasn’t just me. Sylvie probably had a lot to do with it too.”

“Friends can make all the difference. Believe me, I know.”

Mobius nodded.

“Did he used to spend a lot of time alone?” the Doctor asked.

“He did, but that was part of the self-deception, I think. He’d been told over and over that he deserved to be alone, would always be alone, and I guess he eventually believed it. So he would do everything he could to push people away before they could push him away. But he didn’t really want to be alone.”

“And then,” the Doctor mused, “just when he’d found a group of friends who didn’t push him away, he sentenced himself to an eternity of solitary confinement, for their sake.” He shook his head. “And they used to call me the Lonely God.”

“Right. Yeah.” Mobius swallowed hard. “So, what are you getting at, exactly?”

“I have a hunch. Total solitude isn’t healthy for anyone. Probably not even a god. We all need friends, or family, to keep us from spiraling. Help us see what’s important, what’s real and what isn’t.”

“And?”

“So what if your friend is struggling, all alone in there? He did this,” the Doctor gestured at the image of Yggdrasil on the wall screen, “for the noblest of reasons, holding your entire multiverse together, but maybe he’s finding it harder to hold himself together. I think maybe his psyche is splintered.”

“Splintered?”

“The eagle, the squirrel, and the serpent are clearly coming from him, his magic. What if the eagle is his best self, keeping the multiverse safe? And the serpent represents his darker, destructive impulses. And the squirrel, well, that has ‘mischief’ written all over it — especially with what it’s been doing at the TVA — but it’s also self-deception. It’s him unconsciously lying to himself, so that the serpent is undermining everything he set out to do.”

Mobius blew out a breath. “That makes sense, but if that’s the case, what can we do?”

“We have to come up with some way to communicate with him. Help him pull himself back together. Problem is, I scanned the tree while we were exploring. There’s no way I can get to him in the Tardis.”

“Damn.”

“If we just had a way to use the branches — or better yet, the roots — to talk with him… I don’t know how we’d manage that, though. A timeline isn’t like a wire you can just send signals through, and going into the timelines, well, it would just filter through as noise. And even if he heard it, it would only be one-way.”

Mobius stared unhappily at the image on the screen. A dark cloud slowly moved across, temporarily obscuring the view, and his expression brightened. “Wait… I think there might be a way to contact him!”

“What’s that?”

“Sylvie. She has this ability to enchant people, or creatures, to read their memories, or control them. Maybe she could use it to send and receive messages through the roots.”

The Doctor looked skeptical. “Enchant an entire timeline? I’m not keen on that idea, even if it’s possible.”

Mobius shook his head. “Not that. I don’t know exactly how it works, but she managed to enchant a giant cloud monster once, so maybe things don’t have to be solidly connected. If she could just use the timelines to touch Loki’s mind, maybe it could work.”

“Would she do it? From what B-15 told us, she doesn’t want to work with the TVA.”

“Pretty sure she’d do it for Loki. And the multiverse. This whole thing, bringing back free will, was her glorious purpose long before Loki entered into it.”

“Glorious purpose?”

“It’s, um, a Loki thing. They’re all convinced that they’re ’burdened with glorious purpose’.” Glancing at the wall screen, Mobius added. “Some of them are more right than others.”

He paused for a moment and seemed to deflate. “There’s just one problem with the idea. Enchantment requires physical contact. She’d have to actually touch one of the roots, and she told us she doesn’t have the ability to do that. She couldn’t understand why Loki could, but if Casey and O.B. are right about him being unmoored from time and space, maybe that explains it.”

The Doctor smiled. “I think I can help with that.”

“Good, good. We’d better get back to the TVA. The council will want to know what’s happening — and somebody will need to talk to Sylvie.” Go to the next chapter

[ga-yuu]

-----Part 1------

Sueharu: "In the meantime, the next step...is to go through Sadakatsu-sama and draw out the trading company that are said to be collusive with them."

Then Sueharu-san looked at me and narrowed his eyes.

Sueharu: "Ah. Also, I forgot something important."

Yoshino: "Important?"

Sueharu-san reaches out and....rubs is thumb over my lower lip.

Sueharu: "You promised that you'll reward me with a kiss if I win the bet. Did you forget that?"

-----Options------

Are you kidding me?

I remember

I forgot.

---------

Yoshino: "....I-I forgot because I'm a bad girl."

Sueharu: "I suppose it's part of being a man to tame a bad girl."

His handsome face with a gentle smile approaches....

Yoshino: ".....Nn."

I forgot to move when I realized that Sueharu-san kissed me through his fingers.

Sueharu: "I'll be happy with that for now because I got see some really good things today."

Yoshino: "Good things..."

Sueharu: "Best spectacle of night was your shy face."

(Ngh....)

Sueharu: "You were a supremely evil woman during the banquet, but right now you're the cutest thing I've ever seen."

Sueharu: "I'm glad to have you all to myself."

(I should not listen anymore...)

Yoshino: "If you say anything more, I'll jump out of this oxcart!"

Sueharu: "That's dangerous. Then I have make sure to hold you tightly."

Yoshino: "Ah."

Just when I thought it was over, I found myself in Sueharu-san's arms.

Yoshino: "Please let me go."

Sueharu: "I can't. It's impossible for me to not woo you when you're in front of me. So I have no choice but to do this."

His voice tickles my ears.

Yoshino: "....I understand! I won't jump out!"

Sueharu: "Good. But I wish I could hold you a little longer."

I glared at Sueharu-san, who easily moved away from me.

(I really have to be careful....)

At that night, Sueharu-san and I stayed at an inn in Kyoto...

Morinaga-san and Benkei, who were hiding, were to be informed by Sueharu-san's men.

The next day, Sueharu went to Sadakatsu-sama's residence as promised.

.........

Yoshino: "Welcome back, Sueharu-san. Thank you for your hard work!"

Sueharu: "I'm back. Sorry to keep you waiting."

Sueharu-san returns from the mansion and sits down next to me.

Sueharu: "I have successfully secured a major business deal with Sadakatsu-sama."

Yoshino: "You guys only met yesterday and today you signed a business deal together!? That's so fast!"

(I thought it would be difficult for even Sueharu-san to go through this process several times)

Sueharu: "Negotiations is my forte. Well, this is not an actual business negotiations per se though."

Yoshino: "....Yeah."

(The aim is to provoke the business associations related to Sadakatsu-sama....)

Yoshino: "Will the trading company make a move, as Sueharu-san wants?"

Sueharu: "They'll come for us. From their point of view, it's like we've stolen their customers."

Sueharu: "They wouldn't leave me alone until they destroy me completely."

(You say that so matter of factly. But they are bandits behind the trading company)

Sueharu: "Are you worried about me?"

-----Part 2-----

Sueharu: "Are you worried about me?"

Yoshino: "Mm...."

For a moment I was loss for words.

Yoshino: "Isn't it natural? I'm Sueharu-san's partner now."

Sueharu: "I'm glad. Thank you."

Sueharu: "But in the end, it's the quickest way."

Yes, what Sueharu-san's strategy is----

Sueharu: "We will conquer the trading company bandit by bandit."

Sueharu: "However, before that, I need to create a good reason for the other side to intervene."

Sueharu: "That way, we can negotiate with the organisations that have the bandits under their control, and we can end this."

(It means having the trading company and the bandits cut off by a higher organization to avoid an all-out conflict)

Yoshino: "I hope it works..."

Sueharu: "I have contacts in the underworld, and I'm sure they wouldn't want to antagonize me."

Sueharu: "If we negotiate with them after they've taken a stand on their appearance, you can't be dismissive."

(I have very mixed feelings about Sueharu-san's negotiations with the organisation that unites the bandits)

Yoshino: "....Please be careful."

I look straight at Sueharu-san.

Sueharu: "......"

Sueharu: "Mm."

He combs my hair and gently started twirling it.

For some reason, the warmth felt from the fingertips makes me a little sad.

Sueharu: "You're a good girl."

Yoshino: "Eh?"

I looked at him, as I felt it was different from the way he usually teases me.

Sueharu: "You're beautiful, but you really can't tolerate evil."

Sueharu: "So even though it's not compatible with my way of doing things, you still really care about me."

(Sueharu-san....)

He waits for an answer, I then slowly spins my words.

Yoshino: "I'm not just worried about you."

Yoshino: "...I believe that Sueharu-san will achieve his goals in a way that I cannot."

Sueharu: "....! You...."

Our gazes entwined and we dare not turn away,

I felt a strange heat in Sueharu-san's eyes and gulped.

(Why are you looking at me like that?)

Sueharu: "Yoshino."

Yoshino: "Yes."

Sueharu: "From today onwards, I don't want you to go out alone."

A hand is placed on my cheek and my heart beats faster.

Yoshino: "Okay..."

The hand slowly moves away, as if to say goodbye....

Sueharu: "I'm going to have a little chat with my subordinate. So, relax...okay?"

Sueharu-san slowly stood up and left the room,

(I feel like I'm getting a little closer to Sueharu-san...it's not my imagination, right?)

It was difficult for me to judge whether that was a good thing or bad thing.

.............

Three days later...

Sueharu: "So? How is it?"

Yoshino: "Mm. It's delicious...!"

Sueharu-san brought me to a restaurant, where I was having tea and sweets.

Yoshino: "But is it really okay to relax, right now?"

Sueharu: "When you're working, you have to work hard. When it's time to relax, you have to relax as much as you want. That's the motto of life."

-----Part 3-----

Sueharu: "When you're working, you have to work hard. When it's time to relax, you have to relax as much as you want. That's the motto of life."

(That may be true?)

Yoshino: "Even so, to rent out a whole restaurant just for eating tasty sweets is a little too much right...?"

Sueharu: "Who likes to stand in a queue and wait? Also, its after hours, so we're not disturbing other customers."

Yoshino: "I feel like I'm going to lose my financial sense when I'm with Sueharu-san."

Sueharu: "Ahhh."

Yoshino: "Mm."

When I tried to argue, a small piece of dried candy was thrown into my mouth, causing me to look confused.

Yoshino: "It's sweet...w-wait, what are you doing!?"

Sueharu: "Before you can open your mouth to complain, I'll keep tossing sweets into your mouth. Doing that, makes me look like I'm feeding a small puppy. It's cute."

Yoshino: "You're making fun of me again today."

While having a pointless argument again-----

(...! What is that sound?)

From the other side of the wall, I heard the sound of something breaking, heavy footsteps and people's voices.

Shop owner: "Oh sir! The whole place is reserved today...!"

???: "Shut up! I'm looking for the bastard who rented it out!"

(Who is that!?)

Yoshino: "What if----"

Sueharu: *sighs* "There goes our peaceful time?"

Sueharu-san ate the last piece of sweet and washed it down with hot tea.

At the same time, several men burst into the room.

(...They are obviously bad people)

Without realizing, I was paralysed with fear and caution.

Man 1: "Are you Kaneuri Kichiji?"

Sueharu: "Yes and I don't want anyone calling my name while I'm in the middle of my affair."

Man 2: "Are kidding me...?"

The men standing around us, looked at me with stern eyes.

Sueharu: "Oh my, for being Sadakatsu-sama's friends, you guys habd bad mouth..."

Sueharu: "But wait. You're all directly involved with the trading company, right? So in this case I guess you all are friends of a friend."

Man 1: "Ha...so you know who we are?"

Sueharu: "Some lowlife bandits. That's all you are."

(So it's these people....)

The men exchanged puzzled glances with Sueharu-san who said it so casually.....

He immediately begins to tease and threaten them with.

Man 1: "If you know us, then it's quicker to talk. Don't do business in our territory."

Man 1: "Kaneuri Kichiji or whatever your name is, you're just a mere stranger in Kyoto."

Sueharu: "Business is free competition. If you don't want to be outsmarted, why not use your wits and money?"

Giving an amused smile, Sueharu-san retorted.

Man 3: "You bastard. You're getting carried away!"

The first man to open his mouth held back the third man who shouted.

Man 1: "Don't forget we warned you, Kaneuri Kichiji."

Sueharu: "Thank you very much. But I don't care."

The men leave just as rudely as when they arrived.

(That was scary....!)

Sueharu: "You okay? Yoshino?"

-----Part 4-----

Sueharu: "You okay? Yoshino?"

Yoshino: "Yes! I was just a little surprised..."

Sueharu: "As expected of my partner."

I am sure that Sueharu-san noticed my fear, but he pretended not to know.

Sueharu: "At any rate, if they now go out on a show of force, the conditions are right."

Sueharu: "We're almost there, Yoshino."

In the meanwhile, somewhere in Kyoto-----

Ibuki: "Yasuchika, did you know?"

Yasuchika: "Ha? What? That you're a bastard? I've known that for 100 years."

Shuten Doji, Ibuki who was talking to Yasuchika, lifts one end of his lips and smiles sarcastically.

Ibuki: "I see you still love me."

Ibuki: "Anyways, have you heard about the strange things happening in the markets of Kyoto."

Yasuchika: "Strange things? Does it have anything to do with Akihito-sama? Otherwise, I'm not interested. Bye."

Ibuki: "Don't end the conversation like that. And this is my playground, so you're stuck here until I'm done."

Yasuchika: "It can't be helped. I don't wanna stay here forever with you of all people."

Yasuchika deliberately lamented.

Yasuchika: "I have plans with Akihito-sama after this..."

Yasuchika: "I'd rather be there than here!"

Ibuki: "It's a serious matter."

Yasuchika: "Shut up. So what about this 'strange things'? If you want to talk about, make it quick."

Ibuki: "If you're curious, just be honest and say so."

Ibuki shrugs then continues talking.

Ibuki: "Recently I heard a rumour that a powerful trading company is dominating the market in Kyoto."

Ibuki: "I was just trying to figure out how to mess them up and play with them, but...."

Ibuki: "Three days ago, there was a change in the wind."

Yasuchika: "Change?"

Ibuki: "The black merchant, Kitsuji Sueharu and the fox princess fought against the trading company."

Yasuchika: "....!"

Yasuchika's eyes widened in surprise.

The next moment, however, the expression on his face returns to normal, as if he had lost interest.

Yasuchika: "Ah yes. I received a letter from the Shogunate informing me that they are sending those two to investigate the background of the second son of a certain noble family."

Yasuchika: "I did some digging on my end, but it looked like he is doing things in collusion with the trading company."

Yasuchika: "But he wasn't a member of Akihito-sama's faction or an an enemy, so I don't really care."

Ibuki: "Don't put Akihito-sama at the center of everything. You're a boring bastard."

Ibuki: "But the fox princess here. It would be a pity if we didn't treat her well, right?"

Yasuchika: "....Ibuki?"

Yasuchika turned his suspicious gaze towards Ibuki.

Yasuchika: "I telling you. Don't do anything unnecessary."

Yasuchika: "I don't want the Shogunate or the Rebels to know about your existence yet."

Yasuchika: "Especially, since the black merchant Haru-chan is rumored to be one of the most perceptive people in the world."

-----Part 5-----

Yasuchika: "Especially, since the black merchant Haru-chan is rumored to be one of the most perceptive people in the world."

Ibuki: "Are you feeling weak? You're an opportunist."

Yasuchika: "Yes yes. If you irritate me anymore..."

Ibuki: "Oh? What will you do? Come on."

Yasuchika: "While you're sleeping, I'll smear honey on your horns and release a huge number of ants into your room."

Ibuki: "That's too insidious."

Ibuki unusually turned a straight face and held his two horns.

Yasuchika: "I mean it, okay?"

Ibuki: "It can't be helped."

Ibuki: "All right, I'll only play a little bit with the fox princess."

Ibuki's eyes glowed with a bewitching light as he lied.

............

Next day....

Yoshino: "Eh? Harassment in one of your shops?"

I stopped making the wound dressing and looked at Sueharu-san.

Sueharu: "Yeah, there are few shops here in Kyoto under my control...."

Sueharu: "Since there was not similar products with the trading company, we were able to avoid major problems."

Yoshino: "Are you all right...? Did anyone get injured?"

Sueharu: "Everything's alright. I had to close the stores for the time being and also compensate them financially."

(Thank god...)

Relieved, I looked down at the wound medicine in my hand.

I had nothing to do until the situation developed.

So I decided to prepare medicines in case Sueharu-san and his men were injured in hostilities with the bandits.

Sueharu: "If they attack me directly anyway. I'll use it as a pretext for a swift counterattack."

Yoshino: "I'm afraid your eyes are serious!"

Sueharu: "Sorry sorry."

Sueharu: "Anyways, I've been summoned by Sadakatsu-sama after this so I'll be going there."

Sueharu: "Sorry, but..."

Yoshino: "Don't worry. I'll wait for your return...!"

Several guards arranged by Sueharu-san are constantly on the lookout around the inn.

When Sueharu-san leaves my side, he sends one of his subordinates into my room to make sure I'm safe.

(You were telling the truth when you said you'd protect me)

Yoshino: "Then have a safe trip, Sueharu-san."

Sueharu: "Mm."

Smiling mischievously, Sueharu-san then hugged me gently....

(Ah)

He gently kissed my cheek.

Yoshino: "....!? W-What was that for...!?"

Sueharu: " 'I'm going out' kiss. I'd be happy if you could do the same for me next time."

Chapter 14

[thatonerick]

Don't get ahead of yourself, old guy. I've looked into 'your' morticia. And if I'm being quiet honest here, she's alot like me. I suppose that's what makes her the 'anti-morty'. If she relates to evil morty, she will relate to me. I automatically know her more than you ever could.

No you fucking don’t oh my god I don’t give a shit about your sob story backstory. Sure you may relate to her but that doesn’t mean you know more about her than I do. You know nothing about her past, you know nothing of her future, you know nothing about what her original Rick put her through. Don’t go calling me a bad grandpa because you have bad judgment, obviously I’m going to get upset if you talk about my Morticia like that.

[razette-moved]

We finished season 3 of Bungo Stray Dogs. We are basking in the Wan! episodes before the agony of the next seasons. Cant even find relief in the manga; the manga readers are coping hard in the tags! youre all so brave!

Thoughts so far;

Dazai is a mood. Theres so much wrong with that man. hes suffering. his smile is a knife. All ive seen is the anime and Im kinda desperate for more, so Im gonna have to invest in all the light novels immediately.

Atsushi being told to run away from Akutagawa immediately on sight, and then meeting him 20 minutes later is hilarious imo. he did not run on sight. do you think they tell all newbies that? If it were me I wouldnt have even recognized him. Id forget his name and his face immediately. Dazai wouldve stepped in and Idve been, oh i thought hed be taller.

Atsushi and Akutagawa passing therapy tips and tricks back and forth is great. Theyve been fighting the whole time nonstop. theyve only fought like 3 ish times total so far. theyre already so over each other. theyre fed up. get this guy outta here!

Why do they ask for kunikidas advice and then not take it? its not really a critique, i actually find it funny. its a coin flip. he's right or hes a stick in the mud. Man is coping hard. he cares so much. he cares too much.

I like to pretend the tanizaki siblings arent blood related. not real sure that fixes anything but im coping.

i dont really think i should go read the classics just because im watching an anime, right. Theyre worth reading on their own; im just lazy. but i kiiiinda feel like doing so would give me better understanding of this story? I can tell im missing a whole dimension by not doing so. is that wrong?

I think im gonna have to cave and call Chuuya my favourite character. Every scene hes in is great. there should be way more of them.

Im the kind of person who loves like 95% of all ships. youd be a little hard pressed to find a ship i dont care for. Im usually only neutral at worst. unfortunately skk is has consumed my soul.

calico cat man is trans. or intersexed. cant change my mind.

The americans are hilarious. southern belle. evil preacher. money man. work a holic ability. but theyre not treated as just a joke. theyre all great characters.

when life gives you lemons use them to make bombs.

lemon balm pun?

there are not enough kajji gifs.

I wonder what Jun'ichiros training looks like. He is way too good as a potential assassin to not be receiving any. I wish we could see more of him and kenji

I told my partner about kouyou x yosano. they said theyd sell their soul for it. then they squinted at me and asked if it was a crackship that never meets in canon. I said I have no idea.

Actually the ranpoe ship is SO CUTE. What do you MEAN he keeps trying to write better and better mysteries to impress beat Ranpo? And Ranpo is delighted every time. Ranpo defeats each one and then slips a complement between singing his own praises. do you think Poe lives for it? i do.

tbf Edgar Allen Poe the irl author is actually one of my favourite authors. someday when I have money im gonna start collecting.

Fyodor creeps me out. I know he is supposed to because he is a villain, but i always feel bad about it. I want to like him as a villain more than I do. i think villains should me more appreciated. a well written villain is like nice butter to steak.

I think those are my loudest thoughts so far. Im waiting to hear good or bad news from the manga readers before I start reading the manga. I am much weaker and cant handle the pressure.

anyone want to talk about their favourite parts?

[sabo-has-my-heart]

I think an AU where the One Piece world has its own version of tumblr and Ao3 and Sanji introduces his siblings to them during WCI would be really funny

-🦇

🦇 anon! It's so great to hear from you again! So I hope this is about what you wanted, I gave everybody cellphones for the sake of ease. Let me know if this isn't what you wanted or you'd like me to try again. I'm always happy to write.

Warnings: mentions of raunchy fanfiction, Sanji being a little petty, slight violence

Word Count: 1320

     Scrolling through his timeline, Sanji sighed. It was one of his only solaces, he still had access to his phone and his social media. He’d blocked the others so that they couldn’t check his posts or anything, but he hoped that it would be temporary, even as they slapped the bracelets on his wrists, threatening to blow off his hands. Reading the various fanfiction stories had helped, stories of Sora, warrior of the sea, and how he’d rescue people, how he’d beat the bad guys and get the girl. The man’s love life and women fawning over him. At the moment, he was writing some of his own fanfiction, though his had less to do about love and more about how ‘stealth black wasn’t a bad guy’! Stealth Black who was forced into Germa’s evil doings by his evil father and siblings! Except Poison Pink who was actually very supportive of Stealth Black. Was he telling the story from his side? Yes. Did he care? Not a bit!

     “‘You’re a weakling, Stealth Black. How could someone like you be related to us?’ Sparkling Red sneered, kicking his brother, sending him flying back. ‘You’re just the pathetic reject, we’d be better off without you!’ Electric Shock Blue mocked, standing over the dark haired young man. ‘It would have been better if you didn’t exist.’ Winch Green added, punching Stealth Black as he tried to stand. This was a constant for him, to be bullied by his siblings, all he wanted was to run away.” Sanji muttered as he typed on his phone. The sound of someone scoffing drew his attention away from his writing, looking up to see his brothers. 

     “First cooking, now fanfiction? You really are a worthless disgrace.” Ichiji said, the three looking at him with contempt. Sanji gripped his phone tightly, it took all his willpower not to simply crush the device as he glared at his brothers. Pausing, an idea came to mind as he smirked.

     “Why? I’m just portraying you in the proper light. The Sora comics paint you to be absolute villains and the writers online portray you as something… else. I figured they need someone to show the world who you really are.” Sanji said, making the description of the fan’s portrayal deliberately vague. They hated it when Sanji hid something from them, or when they couldn’t mock him, they wanted to know what he knew so they could hold it over him somehow, as if it would prove their superiority. 

     “What do you mean, something else?” Niji asked, his eyes narrowing behind his goggles.

     “Oh it’s nothing, they just get your characters completely wrong. I can understand the Sora comics, you’re supposed to be the villains. You’re terrible enough people that you make great villains, but the fan writers. They’re just… no, it’s better if I don’t tell you, I doubt you could handle it. I can barely handle it, you three would have no chance.” Sanji taunted as he tilted his head back towards his phone, though he made sure to keep an eye on his brothers, watching their reactions as they glared at him.

     “What are you implying, Sanji?” Yonji asked, the three of them stalking over to the blond, looking down at him. Sanji smirked inwardly as he pulled up some of the raunchiest stories of his brothers.

     “I suppose this one will do. It’s not one of the more tame stories, but it’s about what most of the writers online write.” he said, trying to look nonchalant, his legs crossing, “A Rainbow Love by GermaLover667.” Sanji said before launching into the story. It was one of the stories that he knew would bother them. Filled with emotions, impossibilities, incorrect character depictions, and the part he knew would bother them most, the ‘forbidden love between brothers’. It was about 20 minutes later as he was halfway through the story that he looked up. This was probably the most emotion he’d seen on their faces outside of cruel glee. Ichiji was glaring, looking like he was about to murder somebody, Niji was shaking with rage, and Yonji looked greener than usual. Granted, the story highly disturbed Sanji as well, but the blond was able to put it aside simply for the joy of causing his brothers some of the same torturous misery that they typically inflicted upon him. 

     “Hm, maybe I should stop reading, you three don’t look like you can handle much more. I mean, I’m not exactly pleased about the… content either, they make you three out to be way more caring than you really are and I don’t think I’d ever do some of the things happening in the story, but if I finish the story, no, it’s best if I don’t finish this.” Sanji said dismissively, once more gaining their ire.

     “Are you saying you can handle it better than us? Finish the damned lousy piece of shit, Sanji!” Niji barked, his hands clenched into fists. He’d prove that he was better than Sanji! He could handle this shitty smut story better than his little brother! Sanji sighed and shook his head as if he didn’t believe the blue haired boy but returned to reading the fic, glancing back up at them once he’d finished it. During the second half of the story, Ichiji had tossed a guard out the window and punched a hole in the wall, Niji had ripped the couch apart as he tried to contain his anger, and Yonji had damn near destroyed the ceiling. 

     “Hm, I suppose you guys took that a little better than I expected. How about I send you all something a bit tamer to read in your spare time, it’s more romance related, but it’s not ‘brotherly love’ romance, just x reader romance.” Sanji said with a shrug. 

     “Tch, like we have time for that crap. Unlike worthless rejects, we’ve actually got important shit to attend to.” Yonji said, turning away and quickly leaving.

     “Besides, why would we care about the worthless crap that shitty writers make up.” Niji spat, following Yonji out, leaving just as quickly though trying to make it look less like he was running away. Ichiji stared at Sanji for a moment. 

     “I swear, if you show anyone these stories, I’ll blow your hands off myself.” Ichiji hissed before finally leaving, slamming the door so hard it destroyed the hinges, falling to the ground shortly after he’d left. Sanji stifled his laughter as he tapped on his library. He felt like reading some Stealth Black fics, they were surprisingly accurate about his character despite the fact that Stealth Black in the Sora comics was vastly different from how he actually was.

     “That was quite brilliant, little brother.” a feminine voice said for the doorway, a pink haired female smiling at him.

     “Hey, Reiju. I just thought they might want to know what people are writing about them.” Sanji said with a smirk, the woman chuckling in response.

     “Personally, I like some of the Poison Pink stories, they usually aren’t too bad. Though there’s a few that are as terrible as the one you just read to them.” she said, pulling out her own phone and scrolling through some of her favorites, sending the links to Sanji.

     “I’ll check ‘em out later, right now I think I’d like to mess with them a little more.” Sanji said as he pulled up a new page, preparing to write something that he knew would bug his brothers. Was it petty? Probably, but they deserved it for everything they put him through, so he honestly didn’t care. Besides, it was a lot of fun and it got them off his back. It might be disturbing to write things about his own asshole brothers, but if it meant seeing the looks on their faces, it might be worth it to write some of his own.

[fancoloredglasses]

Pac-Man (...and not ONE maze in the entire series!)

[All images are owned by Bandai Namco Entertainment and Hanna-Barbera. Please don’t sue or chomp me]

(Thanks to panbiscuit)

As I previously mentioned, Saturday morning cartoons in the 80s had a LOT of cartoons related to video games (and by “related to”, I mean they had characters that could vaguely be related to the games, but with plots that veered so far from the concept it was ludicrous. But then again, how many cartoons could you make about running around a maze eating…whatever those dots were supposed to be?)

This time around, I’m going to look at Pac-Man, a game, as I just mentioned, involved running around a maze and eating dots. The object was to clear the maze of dots while ghosts roamed the halls trying to eat you! Your only defense was four special dots that allowed you to turn the tables on the ghosts. The video below gives a synopsis for those who’ve never played the game before.

(Thanks to bobamaluma)

[FUN FACT: The creator of Pac-Man has stated he was inspired to make the game while eating a pizza]

Now, on to the show!

First, let’s meet the star of the show, Pac-Man! His job is to protect the Power Pellet Forest from…

…the evil Mezmeron (who’s the only human in all of Pac-Land)

…and his henchmen, the Ghost Monsters (from left to right: Sue (who replaced Clyde in the Ms. Pac-Man video game), Blinky, Inky, Pinky, and Clyde)

Since Sue’s in the cartoon, it should come as no surprise that Ms. Pac-Man (who is married to Pac-Man (wouldn’t that make her Mrs. Pac-Man?) and whose actual name is Pepper) is in the game.

What’s more, they have a kid (Pac-Baby, who also had her own video game (a hybrid of a video game and pinball machine called Baby Pac-Man) that, ironically enough, was released nine months after Ms. Pac-Man’s debut. Guess Pac Man works fast!)

But besides a wife and kid, Pac-Man also has pets!

…a dog named Chomp-Chomp

…and a cat named Sour Puss (who really doesn’t like Chomp-Chomp)

This being Saturday morning TV, you’d think we’d only see the show for one season, but in fact it got a second (and a holiday special that I may have to review one of these years), that introduced two new characters (based on their own games, naturally!) to try to keep things fresh.

First off is Super Pac (Pac-Land’s super hero, who’s more than a bit incompetent)

…and Pac-Man’s teenage cousin PJ (short for Pac-Man Jr.)

Season 2 also saw a reduction in the “chomping”, as it was deemed a bit too violent for kids (seriously?)

The plots were either Mezmeron and/or the Ghost Monsters trying to find the secret Power Forest (how secret could it be? Pretty much all of Pac-Land except the Bad Guys knows where it is!) or the Ghost Monsters trying to chomp Pac-Man just out of spite (considering all chomping does is weaken Pac-citizens or make the Ghost Monsters lost their sheets, I don’t see why it’s such a big deal)

If you would like to watch the series, random episodes can be found on YouTube or you can find it behind your favorite paywall)

Now, for sheer entertainment, here’s what happens when you play Pac-Man in real life! (WARNING: there is some salty language)

(Thanks to Rooster Teeth)

Let me know what other cartoons based on video games (or episodes) you would like to see reviewed in the comments!

[bananasfosterparent]

Efenity Kelmorn's Theme Songs

For my own reference/index, but wanted to share.

Here are all the songs that I would consider main theme songs for my evil Tav, Efenity Kelmorn! If your Tav/Durge is a similar type of person or has similar beliefs/views, perhaps some of these songs you can add to your own Tav/Durge playlists!

ABOUT MY TAV: Efenity Kelmorn is a half high-elf, Storm Sorcerer (lightning/thunder), and criminal (specializes in heists and transport of goods). Neutral Evil, ESTP. She is (happily) paired with Ascended Astarion. More about her here.

There's 10 songs in total here, under the "read more" cut.

I also included some personal notes as to how that song relates to her, if you care lol

~~~~~

🌩️ Do Bad Well (ft Nevve) - KSHMR

Oh, my daddy taught me well There's some devils in heaven and some angels in hell So promise me child, when they pull your card You'll know, you'll know which one you are (Yeah) Ooh, oh ooh Yeah, my daddy taught me well (Hey) Ooh, oh ooh If you can't do good, better do bad well

This song speaks to her criminal father raising her. He sucked as a dad, but he still cared for/about her and did the best he could with who he was. But one thing he certainly taught her was that what's "good" and "bad" are subjective. Things aren't so black and white, and you should look out for yourself, no matter what that means. And you better do it the best you can. From both of their perspectives, everyone (even a "hero") is the villain in someone else's story anyway.

~~~~~

🌩️Glamorous Life - Eden's Crush

She wants to lead the glamorous life She don't need a man's touch She wants to lead the glamorous life Without love it ain't much, it ain't much

This song is about a woman who's goal is to live in the lap of luxury and she will fake it til she makes it on her own. But the one thing missing from her life is true love... and when she meets a guy (who happens to be rich), real love scares her, but she gives in and is able to have what she wants (love and riches). That's... literally Efenity's story...sorta lol Her biggest goal was to complete a huge heist she had planned for a year and buy a big house, take over a criminal ring for herself, use the revenue to continue to pay for the house, throw lavish parties and live alone in peace. But she ended up getting that, and something so much better.

~~~~~

🌩️Only Happy When It Rains - Garbage

I'm only happy when it rains You wanna hear about my new obsession? I'm riding high upon a deep depression I'm only happy when it rains

Pretty straightforward. Efenity's used to living a life of negatives and unfortunate happenings and at this point, she's learned to revel in it and find joy within it.

~~~~~

🌩️ Catch My Breath (Cutmore Remix) - Kelly Clarkson

Catching my breath, letting it go Turning my cheek for the sake of this show Now that you know, this is my life I won't be told what's supposed to be right

Efenity refuses to give into the influence of others for what decisions need to be made. Especially when it comes to Astarion.

~~~~~ 🌩️ Ultraluminary - Phillipa Soo

I'm the light every night in your world, hey You revel in the glory of my beauty You ready to watch me be legendary? 'Cause I'm ultraluminary

This song is kinda random but it feels so Efenity-coded for me lmao Her ego is only rivaled by Astarion's (and maybe Lorroakan's and the Aboslute lmao). But for Efe, her arrogance is also grounded in gaining the confidence she did not have for most of her life. But by end-game she knows the magnitude of her power and influence. She went from sleeping in an abandoned building she made into a home, to sleeping in a triple king-sized bed of a grand palace. So I'd say she ain't doing too bad.

🌩️ Unstable - SVRCINA

I tried to play to every angle Tried to keep up, but I’m just not able Nobody wants to feel like they’re too fragile Turns out that I might just be unstable

Kinda speaks for itself, her struggle for most of her life.

~~~~~

🌩️ Good To Be Bad - CRMNL

I’m a straight up killer And imma eat you for dinner Ice in my veins like winter And I like it like that (like that) It feels so good to be bad

Also self-explanatory lol Efenity is not a nice person. She doesn't try to be. She doesn't care. She is going to do whatever she can to preserve her quality of life and get what she wants.

~~~~~

🌩️Royalty (ft Neoni) - Egzod & Maestro Chives

Best to give me your loyalty 'Cause I'm taking the world you'll see They'll be calling me, calling me They'll be calling me royalty

Never lose sight of your life goals, kids uwu

~~~~~

🌩️ Into Dark - Kate Havnevik

Now or never I can choose Misadventure Turn it loose Be whoever And I'll fade into dark

Efenity actively choosing to be the villain and focus on the needs of herself and Astarion over the needs of anyone else. But for her, from her own perspective, that's a "growth".

~~~~~

🌩️ Either Or - Kata & Philip LeForce

You can choose to win or lose, I give you the choice The world is black or white, either or You either like me or you don't I don't care, no, not at all (Oh, oh, oh) Don't like me now? You never will If you do you'll get a thrill (Oh, oh, oh)

A random song I found years ago, but it felt so relevant to Efenity and her outlook on life and toward the world.

[aemiron-main]

Maybe you considered it an hate ask, even if i just pointed out that you are not really enjoying a villain character if you have to make up theories about how in reality he did nothing wrong ever. I am a Griffith apologist ( i don't know if you know the character but he's quite famous and in his story he did things that make Vecna looks like a toddler) so i know that liking a villain doesn't mean condone those acts in real life, and i hate when others suggest it. But, like i said, you are not analyzing a villain, you're making up a new different character and even if there is nothing wrong with it (this is a fandom and there is content drought) you are a little too presumptuous, always going on defensive mode if someone finds your theories a stretch.

Alright, so, you sent me two asks (and you’re the person who sent this ask), so I’m going to paste the first ask below & then respond to both.

“ you can't enjoy a villain character without making up stupid streched theories about alternative dimensions and pushing them as canon, so no, yours is not a "normal fandom behaviour" and by the way Henry is literally just some bad guy, he's basically Dark Eleven. He's not that deep, he's not Griffith from Berserk (that's a fascinating no pluridimensional villain character that can be analyzed endlessly and he is actually queercoded, henry can't relate i fear 🫢) ”

Look, anon, first of all, if any of what you’ve said was prompted by my posting tonight re: Dani, you must have missed the multiple times where I said that I don’t care about Dani’s takes on Henry or on my analysis- what I DO care about is being accused of forgiving real-life rapists based on my analysis posting about a fictional antagonist.

Also second of all re: a hate ask, I mean, what was I supposed to call it when you opened it by calling my analysis stupid?

I’m not forcing you to read my theories. I don’t care if you believe them or not- you’re the one coming into my inbox making assumptions about me and telling me my analysis is a reach.

You are making a lot of assumptions in this whole writeup. I’m not incapable of enjoying a villain- I simply have evidence to support that Henry isn’t the villain/that things are deeper than what’s presented on the surface level of the show. Hell, I’ve already said repeatedly that Henry being Vecna doesn’t change my opinion on Young Henry not being born evil, and also doesn’t prevent me with sympathizing with him or enjoying him as a character.

However, I simply don’t believe that he IS Vecna. I know lots of people on here analyze based on what they want to be true, but that certainly isn’t the case for me. I analyze based on trying to figure out what’s actually going on in the show, regardless of what I want to be happening.

If I wanted to enjoy Henry and be a full on apologist for everything Vecna’s ever done, then I would. I don’t need to invent any theories to do that. But I don’t think he’s Vecna, and I’m having fun analyzing the Edward subtext. Did it never occur to you that I’m also an Edward enthusiast in terms of enjoying “””””villain”””””” characters??? Or that I enjoy Brenner *as a well-written villain* and as a representation of abuse of power and predation and abusive systems? Which doesn’t align with the idea that I’m simply trying to invent things about Henry so that he’s not the villain. (Sure, I’m not a Brenner fan in the same way taht I’m a Henry or an Edward fan, but that’s because they’re different characters and even Vecna is more sympathetic than Brenner imo, but again, that’s part of Brenner’s character and it’s a good, effective part of it.)

And I’m absolutely normal fandom behaviour- in what world is analyzing the piece of media that a fandom is centered around not “normal fandom behaviour”? And “pushing them as canon”- you mean posting them on my own damn blog and responding to people like you who come into my inbox about it or responding to the weird rapist apologist accusations like tonight? Because I’m not pushing a single thing. And even if I was, who cares! Block me if you don’t want to see it, instead of wasting your time chastising me for interacting with media in the way I enjoy most (analysis).

Like, analysis IS the thing I enjoy most about fandom. I’m not just doing analysis so that I can try and enjoy a villain by making him not a villain- I’m doing analysis because it’s one of my favourite things to do, and because I want to try and get to the bottom of what’s actually going on in ST.

Have you actually read any of the posts? Do you have specific criticism or questions that I can address instead of vague assumptions about me?

And also, I’m not “making up” any character. Again, have you read the posts? Edward Creel is mentioned by name, on screen, with his backstory and timeline written out on screen, and then I’m extrapolating from that using literary analysis techniques (such as looking at subtext and how that subtext is conveyed by elements like repetition, parallels, intertextuality etc) & pulling that sort of evidence from the show.

I don’t just sit there and think of random things that I want to happen. If that was the case, my analyses wouldn’t be full of evidence/screenshots of the show. Even if I’m wrong about my conclusions, I’m not just pulling them out of thin air.

Your claim that I’m not analyzing anything is completely false, even if I’m completely wrong about everything, I’ve still been doing analysis, you can still look through and see what connections I made and what evidence I used to make those connections and how I came to my conclusion based on what we see in the show.

Also, I’m standing outside right now and too damn tired to talk about Griffith because that’s neither here nor there.

Also RE: Henry not being queercoded, that’s honestly a whole other post on its own, but he definitely has significant queercoding- or do you just think that the rant about hating the standard stereotypical reproduction/expectations for relationships while standing in a room full of rainbows and then going on to talk about being “broken” and sent to a lab that has very strong conversion therapy parallels (with Brenner also being extremely similar to Robert Galbraith Heath but again that’s all a big post on its own but is something I’d be happy to expand on when I’m not literally standing outside waiting for a skunk to leave the front porch so I can go inside LMAO) and being extremely paralleled to Will, one of the main gay characters, was all a coincidence?

And also, it’s interesting that you’re accusing me of being presumptuous and too defensive when you’re the one who came in here making assumptions about me and calling me stupid. Of course I’m defensive sometimes- you would be too if you were being called an idiot rapist apologist and being told that your stupid theories are stretches every other day, all from people who haven’t even taken the time to try and approach those theories with an open mind.

I’ve responded constantly and politely and non-defensively to posts that are genuine questions or genuine criticism of my theories, such as in this post. But I don’t see why I should be expected to extend that same courtesy to people who can’t even extend me the courtesy of reading the posts they’re critiquing.

[thenamesblurrito]

Any chance for some protagonists with low empathy, but who aren't evil?

every time i try to do research and figure out what empathy actually is and how it manifests i just start an existential spiral of what is empathy? do i even have empathy? how much of it is nature and how much of it is nurture? how do you quantify that? what does a character with low empathy even look like? or high empathy for that matter? do i not understand because i'm bad at comprehending what i'm reading or do i not understand because i simply don't relate to/have empathy myself??

this is an ongoing existential spiral that started over two years ago btw and i still have no satisfactory answer and could not tell you what makes a believable low empathy character, so i'm, uh. still working on it. HOWEVER one of the most important parts of SNAP to me is that choice is what causes evil. there's plenty of neurodivergent folks here, or other struggling, marginalized, abused people, but it is always, always up to them to choose to "be evil". no antagonists are like that because of some inherent trait, in fact the majority of Bludgeon's character arc is just demonstrating how he has chosen over and over to be the person who hurts other people because that's what he wants, not because he can't feel bad or doesn't understand what he's doing or whatever. with low empathy specifically, when i thought of Overlord and Guiltaur's episode i wanted them to have the equivalent of ASPD, to kind of make a point of two people with the same condition in the same situation who both have to choose how they'll treat others. so i suppose sort of yes to your answer, in that Guiltaur is the "good guy" of that episode and explicitly has low empathy?

uhhhh but less officially, just more kind of, gut feeling i guess, i think Hot Rod, Laserbeak, and Brainstorm probably have low empathy, maybe also Nightracer and Wheelie (who is like 9 so this is partially just a small child thing, but it does stay into adulthood). (Shockwave post-Lenses technically counts as low empathy but this is because of corrupted relic changes/trauma and i don't want to lump that in with everyone else). on the flip side i think Deadlock, Tailgate, and Wreck-gar have very high empathy, and perhaps Red Alert. i don't really have any, i guess "diagnosis" arcs or self-discovery of the mental health/neurodivergent sort in SNAP, since i am juggling so many other things, but there's a lot about the mental processes and situations of many characters that is important and noticeable in the text, even if not explicitly stated. so just because nobody looks at the camera and announces to the audience their precise medical diagnosis for the conditions they have doesn't mean i'm not keeping it in mind while writing them

[rocksrntpeople]

MCU Rewatch - Thor

In medias res has legitimately gotta be the best way to start a movie, right? I mean, is that a fact yet?

While Thor begins in the silent darkness of night, it picks up speed in no time and you’re left wondering where the hell the Marvel movie went. But of course, there are signature justMCUthings that grounds everything in the ever-expanding Marvel world. 

Overall, Thor was pretty good, 

but my main takeaway from the movie is just what a good job it does at seamlessly expanding the MCU to include the surrounding universe, and gathering various threads to begin pulling them all together. I mean,

AHHHH!!! THEY’RE MAKING AN AVENGERS MOVIE?!

(This is what your heart screams when you see this.)

.

But really, it’s a hype movie. The main goal of this movie is to hype up the audience for what’s next, and it was a super fun ride! Like when the DJ won’t drop the beat; non-stop fun! So let’s get into it.

Obviously, I have to start with the intro. What a solemn affair that was! Holy hell, are we about to watch this woman get fired? lol rip?

And then wham, bam, thank you ma’am; get this norse god in my van!

BUT! Before that…

.

EXPOSITION!

Yay! We finally meet Thor!

Good god, he could kill with that look…literally! I actually can’t decide whether Odin is a good dad or not, but I liked how he recognized the sourness in Thor and wanted to fix him rather than just let him continue on.

Now let’s get to a lot of people’s favorite: Loki. 

God damn, this man is so young!! I feel older just looking at him, like he’s related to Dorian Gray or something. Not that Tom Hiddleston has aged poorly, more that he just looks like a fresh daisy here!

Loki the character was also doing better than I remembered; he’s so cunning! No wonder he’s the god of tricks! I mean, of course I knew he was good, but he had this whole plan to square away everything and I was a little impressed…Too bad he’s also kind of a Hitler?! 

Like, “Ooo, Loki you were so close to becoming King but you forgot to not attempt to commit genocide! Better luck next time, pal.”

I do love that he fucking sticks by it and doesn’t even seem to understand why what he did was wrong. It adds a depth to the character that not a lot of villains get: he’s not a totally evil guy, but he’ll do evil things to make his life better. Truth be told though, we don’t get to see a lot of that depth until after he gets beat by the Avengers, and in Thor there aren’t a ton of reasons given for why Loki is taking a shot at the throne now of all times. Ostensibly, we’re just seeing the tail end of him getting fed up with Thor being the star all the time combined with finding out that he was actually a frost giant.

And it was implied multiple times that Thor’s friends didn’t really like Loki and just hung out with him because he’s their friend’s brother. I wish I could say more about that, but we get almost no information about these people or about life in Asgard at all. It looks beautiful and mysterious though!

It’s so funny to me that there are four extremely colorful and distinct characters in the background of Thor. I really, truly wish we could see more of them in movies, but it still cracks me up that they’re so criminally underused.

I really don’t get it, and I love when we get to see more of them later (although, still hardly anything at all). I guess Thor is so mighty that they don’t even really matter…at least they know they’re true friends of Thor? (Supposing he doesn’t like them for their power?)

So then we’re finally reunited with Jane Foster and friends! And Coulson…is it just this movie that he acts like a departmental son of a bitch? I think not because before his TV show I remember not really caring for the character. 

I did enjoy how Jane doesn’t automatically take to Thor, and it seems like that’s going to be a thing throughout the Earth plotline…until he takes a shower. (God, what do incels even complain about?!) And of course it’s fun to see Thor act like a weird dumbass on Earth.

But since the meat of the movie already happened, most of the Earth stuff was just there for fun. Oh, and showing off this thing again. It’s fucking awesome.

One last thing I noticed in this movie is that the stones are starting to appear in concept. Since my last rewatch a few years ago, I’d heard that the themes of the stones appear super early on in the series and that you can see the planning for the whole shebang right from the start. While Thor isn’t exactly "right from the start", it definitely does things a little more in-your-face than previously, though still with perfect subtlety for those who aren't looking for easter eggs.

So Tony Stark has been working with expanding his mind to create new things, and we know eventually he uses the mind stone to create Vision. Thor introduces us to space, the tesseract, and the space stone, then he and the humans start working on expanding their reach of space through wormhole tech, which will definitely open us up to the whole universe.

I won’t look ahead, but we’ll see if this trend continues or if I’ll have to stretch it more and more as I go…

All in all, Thor was good and gets a solid 7.5/10. I’m not in a rush to watch it again, but if someone asked me to join them I’d have a good time!

With the first four movies down, we’re hitting a significant turning point: Mr. Business is here to get this superhero world in ship-shape! At least, that’s how I felt when Captain America: The First Avenger was announced. I knew nothing about him and was pleasantly surprised; this time I know everything, so there’s a chance for a repeat performance!

[the-firebird69]

Fourteen Hong Kong democrats found guilty in landmark subversion trial (msn.com)

This is Tommy Affini's using the excuse china wants Hong Kong included in China and he's the one doing this down there whether to get his opposition and in this case trumpsters for statues and caches but this represents a larger picture it's going on with these guys day after day location after location and they tell our son and they haven't posted they say it's his fault and he says not really and you go off and you try and say it is yelling at each other we've experienced it for days now with you idiots yelling and screaming at each other and ever since the Kia email and you're screaming and yelling he's in trouble and you won't shut your freaking mouth. What happened with that is he sent it that was Tommy F and then get resubmitted and people say if it goes through he's sitting there threatening Tommy F and things like that and we say what exactly are you gonna do from Korea and they say well arrest him here and bring him to Korean and Tommy F says no you're not nice to yourself people will beat you up for that and it's arrested here because it's an international company and it has nothing to do with anything tommy Faha but really it's AFCC thing and no it's not it's not subversive comment and it says your traders to America will be shot so what and I do say this is related to the president and so what what's your point and I do get something it doesn't make any sense no it does not what it is is you guys are doing relations with North Korea which is much worse than what I was saying online our son says to Tommy F. So push that envelope and we decided we should probably shut up that's horrible and it's reality and I do see what he's saying. But there is a law that says you can't insult people online it says no there is not it's not an American corporation it's just that you're white people over there and you're supposed to be Korean and you're lying and your spies that are not authorized in my Granddaddy as president of the United States and my uncle is the CIA director and they both hate you. So I guess me calling up and saying these threats are inappropriate and stuff doesn't mean anything to you I said no it does not you're annoying the **** out of me now you're annoying me with these stupid letters when you fire it back right away or have **** do it and it's illegal to do that to me and really you're doing it on purpose and people know about it and it's not like a brand new one to me you **** ****. You're inciting me and you're cajoling it and it's over a period of years at your asinine facility so I don't understand what you're asking for. And that was our son and Tommy F says I sort of get something else i'm over there talking and he says so what you're the one who's wrong and I get to hear people saying to shut up and we understand why now we get kicked out so he's saying I want like $10,000 so you stop **** around with me thinking it's a good thing because it really is not and we keep doing it in a situation gets much worse what I'm saying is he's been saying that and it's evil but we keep pushing him to do it. So that was Tommy F and it's saying nothing we don't know and it's annoying but he submitted it for review and some people who think that he can do something to our son if he submits it and he's paid but they're really after trying to make Kia look bad and giving him far less than he wants and it's shouting 10 grand because you're stupid ceiling and with two or three grand he'd be under it and would pay his credit card off then you try and take the credit card and that's John Remaard for you and what he's up to now. And it did get resubmitted and there are people over there who plan on sending a check and it sounded like Tommy F was gonna put it through which he might but really it's up to John Remaillard right not if John Remillard wasn't there and it would force Tommy F in here and that's what he wants to do to try and stop the pseudo empire and our son and dog would say boy that makes a lot moresense Thor Freya Olympus